© 2017 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
(April 12) – San Antonio-based NuStar Energy said Tuesday that it will set foot in West Texas’s lucrative Permian Basin by purchasing Dallas-based Navigator Energy Services for approximately $1.475 billion.
Navigator owns and operates crude oil transportation, pipeline gathering and storage assets in the Midland Basin.
NuStar General Counsel Amy Perry hired a team from Andrews Kurth Kenyon led by corporate partner George Vlahakos as outside counsel for the acquisition. The primarily Houston-based deal team also included corporate associates Brooks Antweil, Kayleigh McNelis, Brett Reamer, and Brooke Milbauer; M&A/opinions partner Rob Taylor; real property partner O’Banion Williams and associates Elizabeth Cone and Ming Lei; environmental partner Lisa Shelton; tax partners Robert McNamara and Angela Richards; and labor associate Jayde Brown. The firm’s Washington, D.C. office also advised on regulatory matters.
Perry also played a significant role in the deal. Perry has worked in-house for NuStar since 2006, according to her LinkedIn page. Before that, she worked in Valero’s in-house legal department.
NuStar has been a longtime client of Andrews Kurth Kenyon’s; the firm has done numerous deal work for the midstream company for more than 15 years, including securities offerings. In November, Vlahakos led NuStar’s $200 million offering of 8 million preferred units.
Chris May of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s Houston office to led Navigator’s end of the deal.
This isn’t the first time for May to work with Navigator. In December 2014, he represented First Reserve’s acquisition of Navigator via a $250 million equity commitment.
Navigator’s general counsel is Kevin Strehlow, who also played a significant role in Tuesday’s deal. Strehlow joined Navigator in January of last year. Before that, he served as Sunoco Logistics Partners’ chief counsel, and before that, he as an associate at Bracewell.
For financial advice, NuStar turned to energy bankers John Nesland and Jonathan Lurvey of UBS Investment Bank. Navigator hired John Hanna of Deutsche Bank.
The transaction is expected to close by the end of May.
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